I have to say that I have been looking for a sign from the universe to let me know that this crisis we face will pass and that we will come out on the other side intact.
I feel the plane crash survivval was a the sign I needed and it spoke to me of the hope to come in the new era of Obama.
jump...
I feel that this crash should be seen as a positive bookend to all the crisis and trauma that the Bush administration visited upon this country .
To me it is fitting that this happened in NYC not far from the negative bookend of 9/11. The crash happened on the day Bush was giving his propaganda speech and signaled to me that the dark days are officially over.
I looked at how the pilot landed that plane on the water and took care of the passengers ensuring that he saved his own life and the lives of others.
When I look at the calamity that this economic crisis has wrought I am just totally overwhelmed. However, the metaphor of that crash spoke of bigger things to me. I immediately felt that if those people could survive under such dire circumstances that we could survive under this crisis and that Obama could get us to a smooth landing like that pilot got his passengers to a smooth landing.
Obama is our hope like this pilot was the hope of these passengers. Captain Sully's feat was just the medicine this country needed for all the disaster we have seen in this economy over the past months.
Lying in my bed last night I came to the conclusion that we were going to be ok in this country. The plane crash and the positive outcome gave me hope and renewed faith in the better angels in this country. I feel Obama is one of these better angels.
This morning I woke up to an email from a friend in Japan. She was responding to a positive email I sent her about Obama and his coming Presidency. She wrote back to me in big bold and black letters telling me that Bush, Obama, Clinton were all terrorists and that the only thing that was going to safe us was the coming of Christ. Immediately, I felt sad for her and her words hit me in the center of my gut like a big rock. I met her a few years back. She is a brilliant African student studying science in Tokyo. When I met her she really wanted to come to this country and she loved America. Her tone has now changed and she hates this country. She says that this country has caused all the suffering in the world. I truly cannot fault her for how she feels. Our policies have caused alot of harm even while trying to do good.
Here is my response to her:
we all have good and evil within us. No one is exempt. I try not to see things in black or white. No one is perfect. I have to live my life in hope and look to the better angels in people. yes, the USA has caused alot of harm and this country will have to pay for that and are paying for it. However, I can only do what I can do in my small way. My husband and I are trying to raise our daughter with integrity. We are trying to instill in her goodness, kindness, honesty, self-respect and other positive elements in this wworld. She is only 9 and is making us proud already. I am also telling her the truth about what this country did good and bad and I allow her to see the suffering in this world in order for her to have empathy. This is why I have to live my life in hope and belief that Obama will try to bring a different mindset even though he is in the middle of all the mud this country has created. I cannot live my life in anger i have to have faith and hope for the future and for my daughter's life.
I came to this country a different person. I was idealistic and felt America was going to lift me out of the suffering of my
past in Barbados. I soon came to realize that no matter where I go there I am and that I was the one responsible for lifting me out of my own darkness. Today I am a different person. I have achieved goals but not in the way I hope. I always wanted/needed a family and now I have lost my old family and found a new one in my husband and daughter. I have the home, husband and daughter that I always dreamed of but a part of me from my past is gone and will never return. I cannot live my life looking back so everyday i try to live my life in the present and looking towards the future.
I am now a resident of this country and a citizen of a country I can no longer return to. America has now become my home and my country. I see the good and the bad here in this country just like the world. We all have to take responsiblilty for our actions and I hope that with Obama's leadership this country will begin to take responsibility for the pain they have caused others and let the better angels to guide our policies. This is alot to hope for but I have to live in hope and faith.
I do not practice christianity and I do not believe in your God but I respect you for what you believe. I hope that life under Obama's presidency brings you goodness amid all the pain that is still present. Please know that amidst all this mud and dirt one can thrive. I did and you are. Good fortune to you and peace.
In love
I really believe we will get through this and that plane crash and the survivors spoke to my heart. I know we will make it as a nation.
I hope my friend in Japan will soon see the change that has come. The Hudson miracle is our new symbol of hope. We are going to make it through this.